kludge’s TF530 build

[redhawk668]

My first TF530 build went up in smoke.... When first switching it on after soldering it shorted and a little fizz and smoke was all I got :o Fortunately, my Amiga 500 was still in good order and I could salvage my 68030, the RAM chips. My second attempt got somewhat better, after lots of soldering, reflowing, removing bridges, etc. it worked stable at 25 Mhz with a 68882 FPU. I've done a third attempt to build a new TF530 running at 50 Mhz, I succeeded in that. It runs, but I can't get the FPU running, so some more debugging needed. Another thing are crashes in WHDLoad.

[kludge]

My first TF530 build went up in smoke....

Did you have a terrible fire?

I want to make really sure that I don’t have any bridges left on the CPLD’s and that all pins are making contact before I start soldering in the other components. One of the legs on the RAM CPLD looks like it touches the leg next to it, but my multimeter seems to disagree.

[redhawk668]

I released the magic smoke :mrgreen:

[8 Bit Dreams]

The reason for crashing in WHDLoad may be Autovector issue. You need to disable this function in whdload.prefs

[sety]

[/quote]
Are you using a microscope?
[/quote]

Yeah same type as yours.

The 520 build was easy, everything just lined up. :/

I suspect the CPLDs I'm using are clones and somehow slightly out of spec. (They were the cheapest ones I can find). Even the labels on them are inconsistent. Some are even missing the pin 1 dot while others have it. :lol:

[kludge]

That’s weird. Did you have another source for the 520 CPLD? Or is it a different type? I’m not that familiar with the 520, as I started following this project when the 530 was being developed.

Or does the CPLD come in another package as well? But I guess it would be quite a lot of difference between the pads and the legs in that case.

How much is differing?

[terriblefire]

The 520 CPLD is a VQ44... my granny could solder that with a hot rusty nail... the 530 is VQ64.. much finer pitch.

For soldering... use a K tip. I keep banging on about this but I don’t need braid to get rid of bridges with a k tip. Just clean the iron and dab gently with good flux applied and the spread you get clears the bridge.

Nobody listens to me though

[kludge]

I’m not using braid, just lots of Amtech flux. Didn’t use a K-tip though, just a regular wide tip. Will use a K-tip next time.

[chue]

my granny could solder that with a hot rusty nail...

:lol:

[kludge]

my granny could solder that with a hot rusty nail...

:lol:

My granny used to work as a welder (I think she was the first female welder at Volvo, BTW), so she might be able to handle it as well 🔥